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Keyhole Placement of Heart Surface Pacing Wires

North Carolina rates for HCPCS 33203

Placement of pacing wires directly onto the outer surface of the heart, done with a camera and slim instruments passed through small incisions between the ribs rather than by opening the chest. The wires are then connected to a pacemaker or defibrillator unit. This route is used when wires cannot be threaded to the heart through a vein.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Keyhole Placement of Heart Surface Pacing Wires cost?

$2,297

Typical total for the visit. In North Carolina, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,297 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,445 to the doctor who performs it, and $851 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,445$1,072 to $1,738
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$851$575 to $3,311

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $851 · 10th to 90th $380 to $7,244Professionalmedian $1,445 · 10th to 90th $871 to $2,089
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $851professional $1,445

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$794.33
Typical High
$7,943.28
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$794.33
Typical High
$1,096.48
BCBS North Carolina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$1,737.80
Typical High
$2,089.30
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$478.63
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$29,512.09
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$870.96
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$2,187.76
Medcost
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$1,258.93
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$1,230.27
Typical High
$1,288.25
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$338.84
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$5,011.87
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$1,122.02
Typical High
$2,137.96
3 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$588.84
Median
$588.84
Typical High
$758.58
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$549.54
Median
$549.54
Typical High
$707.95
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
51 · Multiple procedures
Typical Low
$371.54
Median
$616.60
Typical High
$1,148.15

Where North Carolina sits

The same service costs 10.7 times more in Colorado than in Maryland. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Physician feeFacility fee

North Carolina· 35th of 51

$2,297

$1,445 physician + $851 facility

CO $15,603MD $1,454

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.